Fading
by AwkwardMachete
Summary: Cute Reader X Sniper story. My first fic.
1. Chapter 1

Your POV

Your vision blurred and the room spun. You'd been having these dizzy spells for a few months now. You assumed it was due to having all of 3 hours sleep in the past four weeks. You really had no idea how you had survived this long and surprisingly, your comrades didn't seem to notice that you'd lost a lot of weight due to only living on caffeine energy drinks, strong coffee and dry crackers, the dark rings under your eyes, your ghostly pale skin and the fact you were delirious with sleep deprivation. Really, you didn't realise how much damage you were doing to yourself. Depriving your body of nearly 100% of it's much needed vitamins would leave you in dire straights if you were to get injured on the battle field. Of course, due to your tired clumsiness, that's exactly what happened.

You awoke at 4am, rather disappointedly. Again, it was a sleepless night. Plagued by night terrors that had been torturing you for months denied you of rest. Sighing you pulled on your red uniform and waited for everyone else to awaken. Two hours was a long time when you ached for sleep but you were too tired to do anything. You decided to take your mind off it, you'd make a decent breakfast for everyone. Bacon, eggs, sausages, toast and pancakes along with other breakfast items were laid out on the table for the mercenaries when they arrived in the dining hall at 7am. You were exhausted and felt sick to your stomach. You couldn't bring yourself to eat and your hands stung with the amount of times you accidentally burned yourself from zoning out in an exhausted daze. You just drank four cups of very strong coffee while the others ate. Then looking up to thank you for making breakfast, it was Sniper who finally noticed your physical state. Not wanting to upset you, he quietly mentioned to Medic who vowed to keep an eye on you during the day's battle.

The Administrator's voice rang throughout the base, stating that the battle would begin shortly. You gripped your gun as you swayed, going dizzy again. Unbeknownst to you, Sniper, Medic and now Spy who had been told of Sniper's worries, looked at you in concern. You shook your head, trying to clear it and sighed. The alarm sounded and everyone ran out into the war zone. You decided to find a relatively sheltered area to shoot from, hoping you'd be coherent enough to hit someone. With the close sounds of bullets, weapons, bombs and grenades, your constant headache intensified and your vision began to blur again. Dizziness over whelmed you and you didn't notice the blu Pyro and Spy come into the room you were hiding in.

When you finally came back to reality, so to speak, you turned to pick up your other gun when you were encased by a cloud of scorching flames. Reacting by instinct, you opened your flask of boiling coffee and tipped it over yourself, dousing the flames, at least the flames were gone but your skin blistered with burns from the coffee and Pyro's flamethrower. Leaving you in a crumpled heap on the floor assuming you'd bleed out, he skipped out the room, chucking manically. Relief rushed over you when he left but it was soon replaced by icy fear when you heard the soft words, "aurevoir, mon cher", and with that the blu Spy shot you in the stomach with a shotgun, no less. He cloaked and ran off laughing and snorting.

Your body was consumed with pain. You were dizzy and in agony. You'd had enough. This was the final straw. You needed to see Medic. NOW. After another 20 minutes, the Administrator announced the end of the battle and a victory for the reds. Now it was ceasefire and it was your chance to drag your weakened body back to the base. You knew this would be a long and painful journey. Sucking in air through your teeth, you heaved yourself from the ground and began to make your way to safety.

Snipers POV

It had been two hours after the end of the battle and no one had seen the girl anywhere. Now they were all beginning to worry. Engie checked the records for the day's battle and noted she'd made no kills and hadn't been killed and respawned, she had however been hit critically. Maybe she was lying injured somewhere. He felt the panic bubble in his stomach. Just as he and Medic were about to leave and search for her, the door to the rec room slowly opened and she practically dragged herself into the room. In the bright light they all noticed to horrendous state of her. Burns, cuts, gashes, wounds, blisters, covered in fresh blood, dried blood, stale coffee and gasoline, she looked almost like a corpse with her pale skin, dark rings under eyes and her very thin build. As Sniper began to ask what the hell happened she clutched her head and swayed. She coughed up a lot of blood and rasped, "Medic…. Pain...". With that she collapsed to the ground, blood seeping from the gaping wound in her stomach. "SCHNELL! GET HER TO ZHE INFIRMARY JEZST!", Medic shouted. He picked up her frail, little body and with Sniper and Spy, hightailed it the medical wing.


	2. Chapter 2

"Why the 'ell hasn't anyone been checking up on her!"

"Ey! Don't go blamin' any o' us! Yer jus' as bad! You didn't bother either!"

"…."

"Shush! Verdammt! If you bozth are going to cause noise, I vant you to leave. Zhe frauline needs peace if she's going to recover from zhis"

"What d'you mean if, Doc?"

"Vell, in all honesty men, she's very sick. As she hasn't been looking after herself very vell, she's extremely dehydrated, lacking proper vitamins, minerals, etc, her body is in a bad condition especially as she also hasn't been eating or sleeping much eithzer"

"Vait. Leetle girl respawn if she dies, da?"

"Nein, I'm afraid. Respawn only vorks on deaths in battle"

"I… We… can't lose 'er. She's a credit to the team"

"Do not vorry. She's getting zhe best treatment I can give her. Just give her time to rest and heal and build up her strength again and she should be fine. Come now, you are cluttering up zhe infirmary"

Despite Medic's assurance of her recovery, deep worry settled in the pit of my stomach and I knew perfectly well it wouldn't leave me until she was better and back with us. I vowed to look after her when she gets better. To be honest, I loved her. She'd been on our team a couple years now and my feelings grew. Defying Medic's orders, I went to the Med Bay and sat next to the bed she was placed in, wires and tubes twisting all over her body, an oxygen mask put over her delicate face, left pale from the lack of sleep. Taking hold of her icy cold hand I murmured to her softly. "Please get better, luv. I need ya".


	3. Chapter 3

It was like resurfacing from water. Light, sound and feeling slowly filtered through your senses. Taking in a shuddering breath you slowly opened your eyes, wincing at the harsh light. Suddenly memories came flooding back to you, almost giving you a headache. You slowly began to move, removing the oxygen mask that was placed over your mouth and the IV that was attached to your wrist. The heart monitor that was next to your bed was beginning to beep furiously as you began to move more. Soon, it was really making a racket so you disabled it's power source. You sighed. You were thirsty, confused and kind of scared. You had no idea where everyone was and you decided you'd go find them. You wondered how long you'd been out? A few hours maybe? For some reason you were wearing… Sniper's work shirt? What? Granted it hung down to your knees so it wasn't revealing and it was quite comfy.

You opened the Medbay doors and peered out into the corridor. Not a sign of anyone or anything. You quietly crept out into the hallway and walked down to the Rec Room. You pushed the door open and stepped in, looking round. There were the mercs sitting at one table, except Sniper. They looked kind of worn down. Maybe they'd lost a battle? Or maybe the Administrator had shouted at them, either way, you were kind of glad you'd missed it.

"Uhm. Hi everyone" you said cautiously.

The eight men jumped and turned quickly and stared at you with wide eyes.

"By god! She's awake!", Soldier shouted. Pyro mumbled something and clapped his hands running to hug you. The others got up and surrounded you, smiling.

"Oh. Should I not be awake? What's going on? Wait. How long have I been out and come to think of it, why am I in Sniper's shirt", you said, the panic in your stomach rising. Some of the men laughed at your pointed questioning.

"Fraulein. You are confused and it is not good to get so stressed after an accident as serious as yours. Sit down, haff some vater and I vill tell you everything", Medic said gently pushing toward the chair at the table. After having a few glasses of water gratefully, Medic began to tell you what was going on.

"Right. I vill start from zhe beginning zhen", he sighed. He took hold of your cold hands and you laughed. He smiled back.

"Vell, first, I'd like to say you haff not been looking after yourself frauline. You haven't been drinking or eating right, you're weakened from zhis which is vhy you struggled to pull through your injuries, which vere a shotgun shot to zhe stomach from zhe enemy spy and burns from zhe enemy pyro. You vere unconscious for zhree veeks. I haff healed your vounds and you vill be fine but I am going to pay much attention to your health and I vill be making sure you are eating correctly and looking after yourself", he looked at you as a father would at his unruly daughter. You pouted and he laughed. "Und if you would like to know vhy you are vearing Sniper's shirt he vas adamant zhat you vear it. I haff no idea vhy but it has come to my attention zhat he has feelings for you. He vas very upset vhen you vere ill", Medic said smiling softly.

You were completely shocked at this revelation. You had no idea and Sniper hid it well. Granted you both got on really well, but you were completely oblivious. You looked at Medic seriously. "I… I'd better go talk to him then", you said quietly. Medic nodded and released your hands. You left silently, still wearing Sniper's shirt. He wasn't anywhere in the base so you went out to his van and surprisingly, he wasn't there either. It was dark out and you actually began to worry. However, that panic faded when you seen a little bit of light coming from Sniper's nest in the old abandoned water tower. Gently you made your way up the rickety ladder and knocked on the little door. A gruff voice answered, "Come in". Slowly you entered and stood at the door looking eagerly at Sniper.

He had his head in a comic book and hadn't even looked up. You coughed gently to get his attention and his head snapped up. He gasped when he seen you. "Oh, moi god! Yer awake! Yer okay!" he cried, getting up and rushing to hug you. You happily sighed in his warm arms. "I'm fine. I'm okay", you smiled. He suddenly realised that he was holding onto you for too long and quickly let go, stepping back. He coughed and a slight blush crept across his face. You smiled at him softly. You began to realise that, you had feelings for him too.

"Sniper. I.. I know. Medic told me. Thank-you for lending me your shirt" you said gently. Sniper blushed more.

"Well, oi, uhm.." he sighed and continued. "Oi really loike ya. Always 'ave. We're loike best friends, we get on real good, but recently Oi've come to realise, Oi love ya. When oi seen ya in that hospital bed, all covered in tubes, helping ya breathe, keeping ya alive.., Oi just thought that if oi gave ya moi shirt, the warmth would help, maybe you'd be able to sense 'ow much oi love ya", Sniper babbled out. You stood and listened intently to his ramblings, your heart pounding with all the emotions you felt emanating from Sniper himself.

"Well, I guess your shirt worked", you smiled. Sniper stared at you with wide eye. "Ah, wot?", he stammered. You just smiled and stepped into his space. You put both hands on his shoulders and brought him down for a gentle kiss. You heart rate increased as your lips brushed his, weather beaten but still soft. He gently reciprocated, placing one arm around your waist and his hand at the base of your skull, cradling your head as you confirmed your love for each other through the kiss.

You slowly broke apart, sighing, blushes blooming across your faces. "I love you, Sniper", you sighed happily. "Oi, love you too. Oi swear on me loife, Oi'm gonna protect you and keep you safe and look after you. Oi never wanna see you dangerously ill again", he said pulling you into his arms and kissing the top of your head. You sighed sleepily, with a smile. "C'mon luv. You still need rest. Oi'll be right here", he said taking you to his makeshift bed and laying you down gently. You nodded and yawned, taking a hold of his hand and pulling him with you. He chuckled and lay next to you, cuddling up. "G'night luv" was the last you heard before you fell into a relaxed sleep in Sniper's arms. You felt safe in the knowledge that you had him by your side to love and protect you and Medic watching over you too, kind of like a father figure. You felt completely contented as you drifted off almost as if you were _fading_…


End file.
